The House on the Moor, v. 2/3Oliphant, Mrs. (Margaret)
General
The House on the Moor, v. 2/3
Oliphant, Mrs. (Margaret)
Fiction
Susan got up instantly, stumbled towards the side-table, got her candle,
and lighted it with a trembling hand. She went out of the room so
quickly, and in such evident trepidation, that the sight of her terror
struck another arrow into her father's mind. He looked after her with a
pale, dreadful smile. "She is afraid of me!" said the forlorn man. He
said the words aloud, and Susan came back trembling to the door, to ask
if he called her. His "No!" drove her to her room with hurried steps,
and limbs which could scarcely carry her. Susan was so terrified that
she could not rest; she put her candle in her room, and came out to look
over the rail of the little gallery from which the bed-chambers opened.
There, standing in the dark, after a little interval, she saw her father
come out of the dining-room, with his candle in his hand, and go to the
door, which he barred and bolted, with a precaution Susan had never
known to be taken before. Then she heard him securing the shutters of
the windows. With an infallible instinct of alarm and terror, she knew
that it was against the return of Horace that all these precautions were
taken. She stole into her room, closed the door noiselessly, and looked
out. Black in its unbroken midnight of gloom lay the moor, a waste of
desolate darkness on every side, rain falling, masses of black clouds
sweeping over the sky, a shrill gleam of the windy horizon far away,
shining over the top of the distant hills. And Horace, if he should be
near, if he should still be coming home, remorselessly shut out! Susan
sat up half the night, listening with a nervous terror to all the
mysterious sounds which creep and creak in the absolute silence of the
dead hours of night. Horace was most comfortably asleep in a comfortable
room in the "George," at Kenlisle, while his poor sister sat wrapped in
a big shawl, trying to keep awake, thinking she heard his footsteps
approaching the house, and waiting only to be certain before she should
steal down-stairs in the dark to open the door. Poor Susan fell fast
asleep at last, and slept till long after her usual time; then she was
roused by Peggy to just such another day. Mr. Scarsdale still did not
say a word, though his glance at the empty chair was more sharp and
eager. And so things continued till the forenoon of the third day, when
John Gilsland stopped his cart at the door; and, calling for Peggy in
his loud, hearty voice, which could be heard over all the house,
informed the entire family of Marchmain that he had come for Mr. Horry's
box.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account